1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering arm structure of an outboard motor.
2. Related Art
An outboard motor is typically mounted to a hull via a swivel bracket and a clamp bracket. The swivel bracket is fixed to the outboard motor and the clamp bracket is fixed to the hull. The swivel bracket is rotatably pivoted to the clamp bracket via a pilot shaft.
For example, a steering bracket is provided rotatably at the top end of the pilot shaft so as to rotate integrally with the pilot shaft, and a steering arm extending forward is mounted at the front end of the steering bracket. By swinging the steering arm to the right or left, the outboard motor can be steered to the right or left about the pilot shaft with respect to the bracket.
Generally, a throttle grip is provided at the front end of the steering arm so as to enable both throttle and steering operation to be performed at the same time. In recent years, a shift operating unit and switches are mounted to the operation handle so as to improve the operability (see, for example, Japanese Patent Nos. 3470547, 2718149, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-70594).
However, although the steering arm described in Japanese Patent No. 3470547 is so constructed that throttle operation is performed in accordance with a rotation system (grip type system), shift operation is carried out by lever. Further, since the shift lever is provided in the center of the side surface of the steering arm, and an adjuster of the throttle is provided on an opposite side to the shift lever, it is difficult to say that the operability of each operating unit is good.
In the steering arm described in Japanese Patent No. 2718149, although the throttle operation and the shift operation are carried out by the rotation system and the operating unit is coaxially adjacently disposed, there is no disclosure about other components such as the throttle adjuster.
Furthermore, although in the steering arm described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-70594, a throttle using the rotation operating system and a throttle opening holding unit are disposed coaxially adjacent to each other, the structure is complicated and many components or elements are disposed, and in addition, it will be difficult to obtain an excellent adjustability. Furthermore, there is no disclosure about other components such as the shift unit and steering adjuster.